The Hindu Business Line : `Hurricanes may push crude beyond $80'

Mr Victor Shum, Senior Vice-President, Purvin and Gertz, believes that the West Asian crisis and Alaskan supply trouble supports high crude oil pricing. According to Mr Shum, hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico could push oil beyond $80 per barrel.

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Mr Victor Shum:

We thought crude was cooling down after hitting $78, but it is back again. What do you feel about crude prices?

Yes right, and today it is just a tad below $77. Of course, the market is worried about the Alaskan oil supply disruptions that happened over the weekend and BP, too, is in the process of shutting down the production at Prudhoe Bay.

Apart from that, we continue to have the West Asian crisis between Israel and Hizbollah and the fear is that it may spread to the oil producing countries such as Iran. So, there are plenty of bullish news supporting high crude oil prices today.

Given the fact that they are not sure how they can reinstate Prudhoe Bay, and there are also other uncertainties, what is the price range you see for crude in the near-term?

Well, it seems like the market has been getting closer to $80 and so it wouldn't surprise me in the short-term future. If there is a hurricane in the midst of all this bullish news, pricing could go beyond $80.

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